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October 7, 2003. On September 26 in Low Memorial Library, the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning (CCNMTL) and its faculty partners presented a series of innovative teaching approaches employing new media tools to an enthusiastic audience. Over 200 people attended this year's conference, representing a cross-disciplinary array of faculty, technical specialists, and librarians both inside and outside the University.

The conference highlighted faculty panels constructed around approaches to teaching with new media, including "Third Spaces for Learning," "Using Multimedia Case Studies to Promote Focused Learning," and "Simulations as an Educational Tactic." These approaches have been applied across disciplines and have initiated new conversations between faculty regarding strategies for applying the distinctive properties of electronic spaces and instruments to particular challenges in teaching. Kiosks throughout the Rotunda gave attendees the opportunity to spend time with CCNMTL's Educational Technologists and experiment with a variety of new media projects. The workshops focused on scientific computing and visualization, the CourseWorks course management system, and the use of digital video in the classroom.

Opening with remarks from Provost Alan Brinkley and University Librarian James Neal, this full-day conference incorporated faculty presentations, project kioks, and hands-on workshops. Neal placed the conference in the context of several pressing issues facing academic policy makers nationwide. "This transformation in higher education and response to perceived expansive markets for networked learning," he stated, "challenges the academy to rethink its nature and role. The electronic campus demands rampant digital content creation, new strategies for information storage and management, more sophisticated search and query techniques, dependable and secure distribution and access systems, and new approaches in rights management."

The goal of this conference was to share various strategies for incorporating new media technologies into teaching practices throughout the University. In the two years since CCNMTL's last conference there have been an increase in the number of its faculty partnerships and further advances in the application of new media. For streaming video of the conference presentations see link below.